The most decorated player in soccer history did it again. Lionel Messi and Inter Miami won the MLS championship on Saturday night, defeating the Vancouver Whitecaps led by Thomas Müller 1–3 in the playoff final hosted in Miami. This is the first league title in the history of the club established in 2020, and comes in Messi’s second full season with the team.
After being eliminated in the first round of last year’s playoffs (despite winning the Supporters’ Shield and setting a points record), Messi and Miami redeemed themselves this season. Although Miami finished only third in the Eastern Conference during the regular season, they improved toward the end — and in the playoffs everything clicked, especially after the summer arrival of Messi’s close friend Rodrigo De Paul, who scored the goal that restored the lead.
Inter took the lead just eight minutes into the game when Whitecaps defender Adair Okumu put the ball into his own net. Vancouver then dominated possession and equalized on a 60th‑minute strike by Ali Ahmed. Two minutes later, Vancouver nearly took the lead when Sabi hit the crossbar.
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Messi celebrates the MLS championship with teammates Tado Allende and Rodrigo de Paul
(Photo: Rich Storry / Getty Images / AFP)
It seemed Miami might lose momentum — but Messi intercepted the ball, advanced slightly and delivered a brilliant pass to De Paul, who calmly finished past the goalkeeper. In the 6th minute of stoppage time, Messi provided another superb assist — this time to Tadeo Einhorn (Tadeo Einhe), who scored his ninth goal in the last four games, breaking the single‑playoff‑season scoring record. Messi finished the season (including playoffs) with staggering numbers: 35 goals and 23 assists in 34 games.
It was Messi’s fourth win in 11 career matches against Müller, often considered his kryptonite. The final also marked the last match of two Barcelona legends turned Miami teammates: Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets. Another veteran, Luis Suárez, has not yet announced his future; he was left out of the lineup in recent games and did not feature in the final — yet he still celebrated with his teammates.